I'm keeping up with the pace of this story, and giving you another chapter. I don't think I will make it four in a row, so prepare for a wait for this story.

I love the responses I have gotten in my reviews, a lot of people are feeling for what I have done. However, I wish more people would put it on their favorite or alert list. If you are reading and haven't done that, could you show me some love?

Speaking of love… Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

…..

Naruto couldn't stay in bed all day, no matter how depressed he felt, so he got up around 10 a.m. He knew he couldn't really leave his apartment until the school day was over, or else he would be drug there by a truant officer, so he needed a way to pass the time.

He went to the pile of scrolls he had on his desk, mostly homework assignments or something he had to write in class, looking for one to occupy his time. After digging through the pile, he found one on the defensive katas of the Academy taijutsu. He never really looked over it, he thought his brawler style was better and brawlers were attackers, but he decided he might as well do this instead of mope around in his house all day.

For the next four hours, he lost himself in practicing the katas, going through everyone what must have been a hundred times, until he was simply doing them on instinct, without thinking, like how he wanted to be. He only stopped for a cup ramen break, barely lasting five minutes. The katas were far from perfectly done, Iruka-sensei would have to show him how to do them properly, but the repetition was what Naruto needed at the moment.

However, he grew tired of the repetition and tried to find another way to busy himself until the Academy let out its students and it was safe for him to be out in public. He wished he could get out of house, but the second someone saw him they would ask why he wasn't in school. If only he couldn't be seen…

Naruto's eyes went wide in remembering the technique he had learned. He could use the Henge no Jutsu to go out and do something! He was mad at himself for not remembering earlier. Shaking his anger away, he went to a mirror and tried to visualize himself as someone else. He thought about turning into Ino's dad or Teuchi, but they both were probably at work, so he would get caught. He would have to make someone entirely new.

He thought of how old he wanted the person to be, and he thought of someone older but not too old. Like Iruka-sensei. He was probably 20, so that was the age he was shooting for. His hair color was next, and Naruto decided that blonde would be too obvious. Black was probably less noticeable. His eyes would be brown then, since blue eyes would be too easy to notice. He would be someone thinner, since it was easier for Naruto to make someone thin. He thought about possible clothing for this person, and thought of something he would see one of Ichikaru's other customers wearing, and he would mix and match with that. That in mind, he flashed through the signs to do the jutsu.

"Henge no Jutsu." He spoke aloud, but not too loud. He poofed into smoke, and came out a different looking person. He was surprised to realize, upon first glance, that he looked like a paler version of Iruka-sensei with straight hair and a ponytail. He was wondering why he choose a ponytail, but then he remembered that Ino's dad had one. He must have copied the idea off of him. But outside of the hairstyle, he looked a lot like Iruka. His face, for the most part, matched Iruka's. However, he had rounder cheeks and a wider face in general He also didn't have the scar running across his nose. He was only slightly tan, unless Iruka who was almost a full tan as well. He looked to his outfit, and saw the white undershirt and blue jacket as he imagined. His pants were the long blacks once he thought of, and his black sandals were too. All in all he looked like a different person.

With that in mind, he slyly walked out of this apartment and into the street. He didn't make it far before an ANBU member jumped in front of him. Without saying a word, he forced him into an alley.

"What were you doing in the residence of Naruto Uzumaki?"

Naruto shushed the ANBU trying to interrogate me. "It's me, Naruto. I wanted to leave the house, but couldn't since school is in session. I put on this henge as a disguise."

The ANBU stopped, unknowingly by Naruto reading his chakra signature, and nodded. "Alright. Remember your orders."

Naruto frowned, not wanting to get that situation stuck in his head, but nodded. "Hai."

With that, the ANBU member went back to its hidden post. Naruto stepped out of the alley, brushed himself off. Double-checking he wasn't getting any attention, he walked into town.

Naruto quickly made the discovery that he could go freely in the town, as no one was running him off or making him feel uncomfortable. There was an occasional odd look by some of the shinobi, their headbands made it obvious, but no one called him out on anything. So, he inspected the marketplace, from the weapon store to the novelty store. He found out prices of things, and began to budget his available money for things Giso, the name he gave to the disguise he wore, to buy. Unimaginative, but it worked.

When Naruto saw the clock again, he was surprised to see all the time the window shopping he had been doing had taken up. It was already 3:30, school was being dismissed as he was looking up at the clock. Deciding that his façade of Giso was up for the day, he made his way back to his apartment. He dropped the henge, and collected his pouch with his kunai and shuriken. He needed to practice his throwing, and he knew the perfect place for it.

He went to a small clearing near of the giant training grounds in Konoha, one that he was afraid to go near. It had a few posts up, but was largely unused, due to it's closeness to the scary training ground. He used it though. He had found it nearly a month ago, and it was the best place for him to practice in peace. He lined himself up, twenty meters away from the posts, and drew 10 shuriken. He knew he wasn't very good at throwing, but he would become better. He looked at the five posts and threw two shurikens at each, not going in order but almost at random. Naruto wasn't very pleased with the results. Only a few stuck in, while a couple others had bounced off. Frustrated, he took the next ten and threw them much harder, and with more aggression. The same number stuck in, but their were buried into the posts much deeper than the first ones. In all, 12 shurikens missed. Mad at the low number, Naruto turned to his kunai, and threw one at each stump. He did better, with three of the five hitting, but it was still pretty bad. A lot of the kids in the academy did a lot better, and Naruto had to improve. With that in mind, Naruto spent the next half hour retrieving and throwing shuriken, with varying degrees of success.

Naruto failed to notice the presence hiding behind him, far away from the crossfire of the stumps. She was a nine year old, much like himself, and had short violet-blue hair. With clear wide eyes and an unmarked forehead, it would be obvious to any passerby that it was the Hyuga heiress, Hinata Hyuga.

She hid behind the trees, admiring the boy she had a small crush on. He seemed very nice, and had even helped her when some bullies attacked her for knocking out of their hands an ice cream cone. He got beat up, but before she could help, Ko-san pulled her away. Since that day she had begun to watch the blonde boy in her class from afar, and had recently taken up following him. She didn't want to be thought of as weird, she did want to go up to him and become his friend. But she was scared that he would treat her badly once she found out she was weak like her father called her, and would beat her up like the bullies had wanted to. He didn't seem like the type to do that, but she was still worried he wouldn't accept her. She was enamored by his blue eyes and his determination, his strive to become the best. He had declared he would become Hokage someday, and she believed him.

She had been worried about him not coming to school that day and had snuck down to his favorite training spot, hoping for a glance, which she was fortunate for. She watched his throws, something she was fairly accurate (though not strong at.) She wanted to go and ask if she could help, but she thought he may not like someone doing that, so she just watched.

After a bit, Naruto changed his tactics. He decided to try throwing multiple shurikens at once, and see if it did any better of a job. So, with three shuriken in hand, he threw them at a training post. And he did it again. And again. He kept doing it again, collecting them and throwing them in threes, for about twently five minutes. He had little actual success in hitting the post, though they did all go near the posts, which Naruto tried to take comfort in. It wasn't working. His failures kept coming to mind, not letting him reach that repetitious thoughtless nirvana he so craved. His mind was dragged to thoughts of his jiji, the Hokage, the one he knew was never coming back. He was going to retrieve his shuriken, but instead began to punch the posts furiously, screaming out "Why's" with every blow. It was hard for both Hinata and the ANBU tailing Naruto to watch.

Naruto fell to the ground, crying, his bleeding knuckles covering his eyes. It hurt Hinata to the boy she thought was so strong be so weak. It hurt her to see herself in him. She couldn't stop herself, she knew he needed someone. It was something she had picked up on fast, that few people acted kindly to him, most ignoring him and a few weren't above taking a swing at him. She had realized he was alone, and she finally had the courage, or the compassion driving her, to fix that.

She managed to make it to right behind him, and with a loud gulp, drowned out by his tears, she gently put a hand on his shoulder. He jumped, and looked up at the girl who had suddenly appeared. He recognized her instantly, she was in his class, and he had even saved her from some bullies. What did she want?

She looked down at him, trembling, something he though was due to fear of him, and stuttered out. "A-are you al-lright, N-Naruto?"

His eyes, still crying slowly, were surprised by the gentleness in her voice and her actually knowing his name. He wiped away the tears, mixing them with his blood on his knuckles, and told her. "Yeah."

She frowned, knowing he was lying. Someone strong like him didn't cry when he was alright. "Then w-why were you c-crying?"

Naruto sniffed, and shook his head. He didn't want somebody to think he was weak. "I wasn't crying."

Hinata kneeled down to him, to look him in the eyes. "I heard you. You don't have to lie."

"I'm not lying!" Naruto shouted, causing Hinata to fall on her backside in surprise. "I wasn't crying."

Hinata whimpered, curling herself into her knees. "I w-was just s-seeing if you w-were okay." She told him from behind her knees. Her eyes began to water, feeling sad about getting yelled at.

Naruto managed to see this and got worried while feeling guilty. She was trying to be nice, and he yelled at her! Not only that, but people might get mad at him for making this girl crying. He got up, and did the only comforting thing he knew. He walked over to her, and wrapped her in a loose hug, saying in her ear, "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

She blushed very deeply at the sudden contact by her crush, and had to will herself to keep consciousness. She tentatively wrapped her hands around his back. "It's o-okay."

Naruto released the hug and gave her a grin. "Thank you."

With a small smile of her own, Hinata nodded and managed to say stutter-free, "You're welcome."

They sat there, across from one another, unsure of what to do. Naruto really hadn't had many conversations of people his age, besides Shikamaru and Chouji, to guys who were nice to him in class, let alone a girl. He wasn't sure what to talk about. Hinata knew what she wanted to talk about, but was worried it might offend him. With a gulp, she decided to go for it. "S-so, Naruto, w-why were you crying?"

Naruto frowned, wanting to argue that he hadn't been crying, but decided against it. This girl was being nice to him; he should be nice to her. On that note…

"What's your name?" He asked.

Hinata was surprised by the question. "W-what?"

Naruto explained. "I have seen you in class and stuff, but I don't remember your name."

"Oh." Hinata mouthed, slightly disappointed he didn't know her name, but happy that he was asking. "It's Hinata. Hinata Hyuga."

Naruto took the info in and smiled. "Hinata? I like that name." Hinata blushed under the complement.

"Th-thank you." She stuttered out.

Naruto remembered what she asked, and wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't allowed to tell people about it, so how was he going to tell Hinata?

…..

Giso- Japanese for disguise

Yes, I'm a scumbag for leaving it here with a Cliffhanger no Jutsu, along with a probable wait, but I have other stories to write, one's I hope you visit. So, hope you enjoyed, and remember to drop a comment below!